Chairman Miller Applauds House Passage of Bill to Fund VA Despite Govt. Shutdown
Oct 3, 2013
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Honoring our Promise to America’s Veterans Act. The bill now awaits consideration by the Senate.
The bill would ensure that veterans in receipt of VA disability compensation, pension, GI Bill, and other critical benefits will continue to receive those benefits in the event of a prolonged government shutdown. The bill would also fund the Veterans Benefits Administration at President Obama’s fiscal year 2014 requested operational level, ensuring VA claims processing efforts could continue at normal rates.
“Until Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and President Obama decide to engage in a good-faith negotiation with House leaders on the continuing resolution, November payments to veterans and their survivors for a variety of earned VA benefits may be in jeopardy. For the sake of our veterans and their loved ones, this must never be allowed to happen. America’s veterans have already gone above and beyond for our country. The last thing they need is for the nation they courageously defended to abandon them. This bill would immediately remove any doubt from the minds of America’s heroes that the dysfunction in Washington would jeopardize their earned benefits. I urge my colleagues in the Senate and President Obama to join me in supporting this legislation or, better yet, the full 2014 VA appropriations bill, which has been gathering dust on Harry Reid’s desk since the House passed it on June 4, 2013.” – Rep. Jeff Miller, Chairman, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
Related
Watch Chairman Miller’s Floor Speech Regarding the Honoring our Promise to America’s Veterans Act
Text of the Honoring our Promise to America’s Veterans Act
H.R.2216 - Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2014
Senate Bill: Protecting Those Who Protected Us Act of 2013
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